1 and 2 cent coins remain in circulation in Germany

In Italy the 1 and 2 cent coins will be abolished. In Germany, on the other hand, the fight against small coins, which started with an initiative on the Lower Rhine, will be suspended.

About one and a half years after the start, the project in Kleve for abolishing small coins has probably been suspended due to lack of participation. The initiative made headlines at the beginning of February 2016, and there were also some questions, but “in Germany many things seem not to be easy to implement” – said Klaus Fischer, co-initiator of the action.

Around 80 retailers in Kleve initially supported the action, whereby with the consent of customers sums were to be rounded up or rounded down to 5 cents. According to a survey conducted by the University of Applied Sciences Rhein-Waal, 80% of customers agreed to this “rounding action”. However, the retailers continually had to give their customers detailed explanations, which take too much time for sales processing. This was too elaborate in the long run – especially in shops which have to deal with many odd sums, such as bakers.

Stefan Hardt, the head of Deutsche Bundesbank’s central bank, told the German press agency: “Although Italy is currently planning not to issue 1 and 2 cent coins, the small coins are still popular among the population in many countries.” The volume of small coin circulation is increasing, although Belgium, Finland, Ireland and the Netherlands have already introduced rounding rules for national cash transactions.

According to the Federal Ministry of Finance, there are currently no plans to introduce national rounding rules or to remove the 1 and 2 cent coins.